From the Belly of Our Being: Art by and about Native Creation

September 27, 2016 - January 28, 2017

For Indigenous people, culture is often passed to a new generation through oral traditions and the retelling of tribal narratives, including tribal creation stories. It is here that we find the stories of women who made the world. In From the Belly of Our Being, 20 contemporary artists – and Native women –explored how the feminine forces in their tribal creation stories continue to inform the ideals of feminine behavior and gendered roles.

The artworks, including sculpture, painting, jewelry, ceramics and installation, reference those creation stories, where the feminine forces are of great intellect, wisdom, skill, and generosity. They also provide an opportunity for the artists to express how these forces live with them, through them, and within the art. From the Belly of Our Being celebrated the relationship between traditions and modernity in Native culture.